European Parliament

2014-2019

TEXTS ADOPTED
Provisional edition

P8_TA-PROV(2016)0051
Systematic mass murder of religious minorities by ISIS
European Parliament resolution of 4 February 2016 on the systematic mass murder of
religious minorities by the so-called ISIS/Daesh (2016/2529(RSP))
The European Parliament,
having regard to its previous resolutions of 27 February 2014 on the situation in Iraq1, of
18 September 2014 on the situation in Iraq and Syria, and the IS offensive, including the
persecution of minorities2, in particular paragraph 4 thereof, of 27 November 2014 on
Iraq: kidnapping and mistreatment of women3, of 12 February 2015 on the humanitarian
crisis in Iraq and Syria, in particular in the IS context4, and specifically paragraph 27
thereof, of 12 March 2015 on recent attacks and abductions by ISIS/Daesh in the Middle
East, notably of Assyrians5, in particular paragraph 2 thereof, of 12 March 2015 on the
Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World 2013 and the European
Unions policy on the matter6, in particular paragraphs 129 and 211 thereof, of 12 March
2015 on the EUs priorities for the UN Human Rights Council in 20157, in particular
paragraphs 66 and 67 thereof, of 30 April 2015 on the persecution of Christians around
the world, in relation to the killing of students in Kenya by terror group Al-Shabaab8, in
particular paragraph 10 thereof, and of 30 April 2015 on the destruction of cultural sites
perpetrated by ISIS/Daesh9,
having regard to its recommendation to the Council of 18 April 2013 on the UN principle
of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P)10,
having regard to the Council conclusions of 16 March 2015 on the EU Regional Strategy
for Syria and Iraq as well as the ISIL/Daesh threat, of 20 October 2014 on the ISIL/Daesh
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Texts adopted, P7_TA(2014)0171.

Texts adopted, P8_TA(2014)0027.
Texts adopted, P8_TA(2014)0066.
Texts adopted, P8_TA(2015)0040.
Texts adopted, P8_TA(2015)0071.
Texts adopted, P8_TA(2015)0076.
Texts adopted, P8_TA(2015)0079.
Texts adopted, P8_TA(2015)0178.
Texts adopted, P8_TA(2015)0179.
Texts adopted, P7_TA(2013)0180.

crisis in Syria and Iraq, of 30 August 2014 on Iraq and Syria, of 14 April 2014 and 12
October 2015 on Syria, and of 15 August 2014 on Iraq,
having regard to Council Decision 2003/335/JHA of 8 May 2003 on the investigation and
prosecution of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes1,
having regard to: the EU Guidelines on the promotion and protection of freedom of
religion or belief; the EU Guidelines on promoting compliance with international
humanitarian law; the EU guidelines on violence against women and girls and combating
all forms of discrimination against them; the guidelines for EU policy towards third
countries on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment or treatment; the
EU Guidelines on children and armed conflict; the EU Guidelines on the promotion and
protection of the rights of the child; and the EU Human Rights Guidelines on freedom of
expression online and offline; and the EU Guidelines to promote and protect the
enjoyment of all human rights by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI)
persons,
having regard to the statements by the Vice-President of the Commission/High
Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR) on Iraq and
Syria,
having regard to Resolution 2091 (2016) Foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq adopted by
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 27 January 2016,
having regard to the statement of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi
Pillay, of 25 August 2014 on Iraqi civilians suffering horrific widespread and
systematic persecution,
having regard to the recent UN Security Council resolutions on Iraq and Syria, in
particular Resolution 2249 (2015) condemning recent terrorists attacks by ISIS and
Resolution 2254 (2015), endorsing a road map for the peace process in Syria and setting a
timetable for talks,
having regard to Resolution S-22/1 adopted by the UN Human Rights Council on The
human rights situation in Iraq in the light of abuses committed by the so-called Islamic
State in Iraq and the Levant and associated groups, of 3 September 2014,
having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948,
having regard to the UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and
of Discrimination based on Religion and Belief of 1981,
having regard to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment of 1984,
having regard to the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the
Crime of Genocide of 9 December 1948,
having regard to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, in particular
Articles 5 to 8 thereof,

OJ L 118, 14.5.2003, p. 12.

 having regard to the Analysis Framework by the Office of the UN Special Adviser on the
Prevention of Genocide (OSAPG),
having regard to the statement of 12 August 2014 by the Special Adviser of the UN
Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide and the Special Adviser of the UN
Secretary-General on the Responsibility to Protect on the situation in Iraq,
having regard to the Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights on the human rights situation in Iraq in the light of abuses committed by
the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and associated groups, of 27 March
2015, in particular paragraph 16 thereof on Violations Perpetrated by ISIL Attacks
against religious and ethnic groups,
having regard to the statement of 13 October 2015 by the Special Adviser of the UN
Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide and the Special Adviser of the UN
Secretary-General on the Responsibility to Protect on the escalation of incitement to
violence in Syria on religious grounds,
having regard to the Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on
the Syrian Arab Republic, presented in the Human Rights Council on 13 August 2015, in
particular paragraphs 165 to 173 thereof,
having regard to Rule 123(2) and (4) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas, as recognised by UN Security Council Resolution 2249 (2015), the violent
extremist ideology of the so-called ISIS/Daesh, its terrorist acts, its continued gross
systematic and widespread attacks directed against civilians, abuses of human rights and
violations of international humanitarian law, including those perpetrated on religious or
ethnic grounds, and its eradication of cultural heritage and trafficking of cultural property
constitute a global and unprecedented threat to international peace and security;
B. whereas religious and ethnic minorities, such as Christian (Chaldean/Syriac/Assyrian,
Melkite and Armenian), Yazidi, Turkmens, Shabak, Kakai, Sabae-Mandean, Kurdish and
Shia communities, as well as many Arabs and Sunni Muslims, have been targeted by the
so-called ISIS/Daesh; whereas many have been killed, slaughtered, beaten, subjected to
extortion, abducted and tortured; whereas they have been enslaved (in particular women
and girls, who have also been subjected to other forms of sexual violence) and forcibly
converted, and have been victims of forced marriage and trafficking in human beings;
whereas children have also been forcibly recruited; whereas mosques, monuments,
shrines, churches and other places of worship, tombs and cemeteries have been
vandalised;
C. whereas genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, wherever and whenever they
happen, must not go unpunished, and whereas their effective prosecution must be ensured
by taking measures at national level, by enhancing international cooperation and through
the International Criminal Court and international criminal justice;
D. whereas genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes are of concern to all EU
Member States, which are determined to cooperate with a view to preventing such crimes
and putting an end to the impunity of their perpetrators, in accordance with Council
Common Position 2003/444/CFSP of 16 June 2003;

E. whereas UN Security Council Resolution 2249 (2015) authorises those member states that
have the capacity to do so to take all necessary measures, in compliance with international
law, in particular with the United Nations Charter, and with international human rights,
refugee and humanitarian law, on the territory under the control of the so-called
ISIS/Daesh, in Syria and Iraq, to redouble and coordinate their efforts to prevent and
suppress terrorist acts;
F. whereas the international legal definition of genocide, in accordance with Article II of the
1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide,
includes the words: any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole
or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such: (a) killing members of the
group; (b) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) deliberately
inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction
in whole or in part; (d) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
and (e) forcibly transferring children of one group to another group; whereas Article III
of that Convention considers punishable not only genocide, but conspiracy to commit
genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, and complicity in genocide;
G. whereas since 2014 an estimated 5 000 Yazidis have been killed, while many others have
been tortured or forcibly converted to Islam; whereas at least 2 000 Yazidi women have
been enslaved, and made victims of forced marriage and trafficking; whereas girls as
young as six have been raped and Yazidi children have been forcibly recruited as soldiers
for the so-called ISIS/Daesh; whereas there is clear evidence of mass graves of Yazidi
people abducted by the so-called ISIS/Daesh;
H. whereas on the night of 6 August 2014 more than 150 000 Christians fled the advance of
the so-called ISIS/Daesh over Mosul, Qaraqosh and other villages in the Nineveh Plains,
having been robbed of all their belongings, and whereas to date they remain displaced and
in precarious conditions in northern Iraq; whereas the so-called ISIS/Daesh captured
those who were unable to flee from Mosul and the Nineveh Plains, and whereas nonMuslim women and children were enslaved, with some being sold and others brutally
killed and filmed by the perpetrators;
I. whereas in February 2015 the so-called ISIS/Daesh kidnapped more than 220 Assyrian
Christians after overrunning several farming communities on the southern bank of the
Khabur river in the north-eastern province of Hassakeh, and whereas to date only a few
have been released, while the fate of the others remains unknown;
J. whereas several reports by UN bodies, including the Special Adviser of the UN SecretaryGeneral on the Prevention of Genocide, the Special Adviser of the UN Secretary-General
on the Responsibility to Protect and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights, have stated that acts committed by the so-called ISIS/Daesh may
amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide;
K. whereas the International Independent Commission of Inquiry has documented and
reported that persons from ethnic and religious minorities opposing the so-called
ISIS/Daesh and other terrorist groups, militias and non-state armed groups in areas under
their de facto control continue to be persecuted;
L. whereas, according to the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) principles, when a state (or
non-state actor) manifestly fails to protect its population or is in fact a perpetrator of such

crimes, the international community has a responsibility to take collective action to protect
populations, in accordance with the UN Charter;
M. whereas under international law each individual has the right to live according to his or
her conscience and to freely hold and change religious and non-religious beliefs; whereas
political and religious leaders have a duty at all levels to combat extremism and to
promote mutual respect among individuals and religious groups;
1. Recalls its strong condemnation of the so-called ISIS/Daesh and its egregious human
rights abuses, which amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes, within the
meaning of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), and that action
should be taken for it to be recognised as genocide by the UN Security Council; is
extremely concerned at this terrorist groups deliberate targeting of Christians
(Chaldeans/Syriacs/Assyrians, Melkites, Armenians), Yazidis, Turkmens, Shiites,
Shabaks, Sabeans, Kakai and Sunnis who do not agree with their interpretation of Islam,
as part of its attempts to exterminate any religious and ethnic minorities from the areas
under its control;
2. Expresses its view that the persecution, atrocities and international crimes amount to war
crimes and crimes against humanity; stresses that the so-called ISIS/Daesh is committing
genocide against Christians and Yazidis, and other religious and ethnic minorities, who do
not agree with the so-called ISIS/Daesh interpretation of Islam, and that this therefore
entails action under the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide; underlines the fact that those who intentionally, for
ethnic or religious reasons, conspire in, plan, incite, commit or attempt to commit, are
complicit in or support atrocities should be brought to justice and prosecuted for violations
of international law, notably war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide;
3. Urges each of the Contracting Parties to the UN Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, signed at Paris on 9 December 1948, and to other
relevant international agreements, in particular the EU Member States, to prevent war
crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide within their territory; urges Syria and Iraq
to accept the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court;
4. Urges the members of the UN Security Council to support a referral by the Security
Council to the International Criminal Court in order to investigate violations committed in
Iraq and Syria by the so-called ISIS/Daesh against Christians, Yazidis and religious and
ethnic minorities;
5. Urges each of the Contracting Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Prevention
and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, of 1948, and to other international agreements
for the prevention and punishment of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide,
and in particular the competent authorities of countries and their nationals which are in
any way supporting, cooperating in or funding, or are complicit in, these crimes, to wholly
fulfil their legal obligations under the convention and such other international agreements;
6. Urges the competent authorities of those countries which are in any way directly or
indirectly supporting, cooperating in or funding, or are complicit in, these war crimes,
crimes against humanity and genocide, to wholly fulfil their legal obligations under
international law and to stop these unacceptable behaviours, which are causing enormous
damage to the Iraqi and Syrian societies and are seriously destabilising neighbouring
countries and international peace and security;

7. Recalls that UN Security Council Resolution 2253 (2015) imposed a legal duty on UN
member states to prohibit any kind of assistance to the so-called ISIS/Daesh and other
terrorist organisations, notably supplying arms and financial assistance, including the
illegal oil trade, and urges them to make this kind of assistance a crime under domestic
law; recalls that failure to act in consequence by some member states would constitute a
violation of international law and endow other member states with a legal duty to
implement the UN Security Council resolution by acting to bring the responsible
individuals and entities to justice;
8. Denounces in the strongest terms the destruction of religious and cultural sites and
artefacts by the so-called ISIS/Daesh, which constitutes an attack against the cultural
heritage of all inhabitants of Syria and Iraq and of humanity at large; calls on all states to
step up their criminal investigations and judicial cooperation with a view to identifying all
groups responsible for illicit trafficking in cultural goods and for damaging or destroying
cultural heritage that belongs to all of humanity in Syria, Iraq and the broader Middle East
and North African regions;
9. Urges all the countries of the international community, including the EU Member States,
to work actively on fighting radicalisation and to improve their legal and jurisdictional
systems in order to avoid their nationals and citizens being able to travel to join the socalled ISIS/Daesh and participate in violations of human rights and international
humanitarian law, and to ensure that, should they do so, they are criminally prosecuted as
soon as possible, including for online incitement and support to commit those crimes;
10. Calls for the EU to establish a permanent Special Representative for Freedom of Religion
and Belief;
11. Recognises, supports and demands respect by all for the inalienable right of all ethnic and
religious minorities, and others, living in Iraq and Syria, to continue to live in their
historical and traditional homelands in dignity, equality and safety, and to fully practise
their religion and beliefs freely without being subject to any kind of coercion, violence or
discrimination; believes that, in order to stem the suffering and the mass exodus of
Christians, Yazidis and other communities of the region, a clear and unequivocal
statement by all regional political and religious leaders in support of their continued
presence and full and equal rights as citizens of their home countries is imperative;
12. Requests the international community and its member states, including the EU and its
Member States, to ensure the necessary security conditions and prospects for all those
who have been forced to leave their homeland or have been forcibly displaced, to make
effective as soon as possible their right to return to their homelands, to preserve their
homes, land, property and belongings, as well as their churches and religious and cultural
sites, and to be able to have a dignified life and future;
13. Recognises that the ongoing persecution of religious and ethnic groups in the Middle East
is a factor that contributes to mass migration and internal displacement;
14. Stresses the importance of the international community providing protection and aid,
including military protection and aid, in accordance with international law, to all those
targeted by the so-called ISIS/Daesh and other terrorist organisations in the Middle East,
such as ethnic and religious minorities, and of such peoples participation in future
political lasting solutions; calls on all parties involved in the conflict to respect universal
human rights and to facilitate the provision of humanitarian aid and assistance through all

possible channels; calls for the creation of humanitarian corridors; considers that safe
havens, protected by UN-mandated forces, could be part of the answer to the massive
challenge of providing temporary protection for millions of refugees from the conflict in
Syria and Iraq;
15. Reaffirms its full and active support for international diplomatic efforts and the work of
UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura aimed at launching peace negotiations in Geneva
between all Syrian parties, with the participation of all the relevant global and regional
players, in the coming days, as well as his proposals for local ceasefires; calls for the EU
and the international community to put pressure on all donors to fulfil their promises and
to fully commit themselves to providing financial support for the host countries, especially
ahead of the Syria donors conference in London on 4 February 2016;
16. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the VicePresident of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and
Security Policy, the EU Special Representative for Human Rights, the governments and
parliaments of the Member States, the Government and Parliament of Syria, the
Government and Council of Representatives of Iraq, the Regional Government of
Kurdistan, the institutions of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the
Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (Gulf Cooperation Council, GCC),
the United Nations Secretary-General, the United Nations General Assembly, the UN
Security Council and the UN Human Rights Council.